


Some People Change Part 1: Taris

by elinatrevisan



Category: Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Gen, Novelization, Taris
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2010-08-09
Updated: 2010-08-09
Packaged: 2017-10-11 00:23:22
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,663
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/106184
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/elinatrevisan/pseuds/elinatrevisan
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After being pushed into Republic service, Catra Nasan's ship is destroyed, landing her behind enemy lines. She and her fellow survivor must find the missing Jedi Bastila and get off the planet before the Sith take drastic measures.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Some People Change Part 1: Taris

**Author's Note:**

> Okay, this is a revamp of a story I started a while ago on ff.net. I haven't been able to update it for various reasons, but that will be changing soon. So, until I can start posting new chapters, I'm editing and improving what has already been posted and putting it up here on AO3, as well as LJ and ff.net. I can't guarantee any sort of regular schedule, unfortunately, since my life has a tendency of running away with me. Enjoy!

_A long time ago in a galaxy far, far away....  
Four thousand years before the rise of the Galactic Empire, the Republic verges on collapse. Darth Malak, last surviving apprentice of the Dark Lord Revan, has unleashed an invincible Sith armada upon an unsuspecting galaxy.  
Crushing all resistance, Malak's war of conquest has left the Jedi Order scattered and vulnerable as countless Knights fall in battle, and many more swear allegiance to the new Sith master.  
Fearing the worst, the Jedi and the Republic fleet have placed all of their hopes and fears into one woman. She lies healing in a small hospital, unaware of the part she has to play in the events to come._

\- - - - -

Catra opened her eyes, thought better of the action, and closed them again immediately. The room was bright, causing her eyes to sting and water. Every slight sound or movement made her head ache. Since she wasn't able to see anything, she focused on her other senses in an attempt to discover what was going on. Wherever she was, it was cold. She was covered in a rough blanket and lying on a hard bed. The room smelled strongly of disinfectants. She also thought that she smelled something familiar on her breath, but she couldn't identify it.

"Doctor," a male voice said. She heard cloth rustling, footsteps, and then the voice was closer. The pain in her head twinged at the sound, and she wished he hadn't walked over. "I think that she's conscious."

"This is amazing," a woman said. Catra heard footsteps as someone else approached her. There were a series of soft beeps, probably from some sort of computer. "She's healing at a remarkable rate. I thought that she would have to stay in the kolto tank for another two weeks, at least." At this comment, Catra realized what her breath smelled like. Kolto. Of course. Not an unusual smell, if there were doctors around, and its presence on her breath made sense, if she'd been in a tank.

"Doctor," the man repeated, sounding irritated.

"Oh, yes, of course." Catra heard a slight rustling of cloth near her ear and then one of her eyes was pried open. After a brief flash of light, it was allowed to close again. "Pupil dilation for the left eye is good." The procedure was repeated in the other eye. "Both eyes. Very good." There was another series of beeps. "Temperature is normal. Blood pressure is normal. Brain activity is…"

"I think that she's fine, doctor," the man said sharply. Catra opened her eyes again and forced them to stay open this time, pushing aside the pain. Once her vision had cleared, she saw a man in brown Jedi robes standing next to a woman in a doctor's uniform.

"Hello," the woman said, smiling kindly at her. "How are you feeling?"

"Where am I?" Catra asked, her voice hoarse.

"You're in a hospital on Polmanar. I'm Dr. Dreiz."

"Hospital?" Catra murmured. Like she'd thought. Of course, where else would there be kolto tanks? Polmanar sounded familiar enough, too. She'd been there before, hadn't she? Yes, regularly. It was where she'd been going on this trip, after all. Or was it? Something about that seemed off, but she couldn't tell what. She closed her eyes again and pushed the misgivings from her mind. She opened them again and focused on the doctor.

"That's right. Do you remember what happened?"

"I was… in the cockpit," Catra said. She closed her eyes and tried to concentrate. It took a moment. Images were swirled together in her mind, but after a bit they seemed to settle into something coherent. Alarms, shaking, the sharp scent of burnt wires... that felt right. "There was a flash of light. An explosion?"

"You're correct," the Jedi said. "There was a malfunction in your ship's sublight engines when you went into hyperspace. It didn't cause any problems while they were off and you were using the hyperdrive. Then you arrived in orbit and switched to sublight again. It was a problem with power distribution, which caused a surge. Once it reached your fuel stores, it blew apart half your ship. You were lucky to survive. Your ship had already cleared the atmosphere by the time of the explosion, so you were just falling to the ground. We managed to find you before you hit the ground, and slow your descent, otherwise you would have been killed. You very nearly were, actually."

"A power surge?" Catra muttered, more to herself than the Jedi. It would explain the explosion, but... it didn't make sense, somehow.

"Yes."

"Where's my ship?"

"I'm afraid that there isn't much left of it. At this point, it would cost more to repair it than you could earn by selling it for scrap. Most of your possessions were lost." He kicked at a brown duffel bag that sat next to him. "This is all that we were able to salvage. The remains of your ship are at the Republic outpost, so that you may decide what to do with them."

Catra bit her lip. This man was a Jedi, champions of justice and all that, but she had to know. "I had… some cargo," she said hesitantly.

"The spice was destroyed in the explosion. We found trace amounts of it in the wreckage, but your shipment is gone."

Catra closed her eyes. All of that glitterstim, gone. The Hutts were going to have her head on a platter. That was going to be her last shipment, too. With the credits she was going to earn from that run, she had been planning to retire. She could go live on some out-of-the-way Rim world and try to avoid the bounty hunters that would inevitably follow. Even with the Sleheyron Hutts off of her back thanks to this latest shipment, the Republic (not to mention at least a dozen various other more minor groups) still had their problems with her.

She opened her eyes again and looked at the Jedi. "I suppose that you're going to arrest me now?"

"Not now!" The doctor said, moving to stand protectively between her patient and the Jedi. "She needs rest, something you can't get in jail. I don't know exactly what she's done, but-"

"I'm not here to make an arrest," the Jedi said, holding out a reassuring hand to the doctor. "Madam, please get back to your work," he said to the doctor, nodding to the door.

"I think that my work is here," she said firmly. She folded her arms across her chest defiantly.

"If you're concerned about the safety of your patient, I can assure you that she will be perfectly fine. However, I have something that I need to discuss with her in private. Please." He raised his arm to indicate the door.

The doctor bit her lip and looked between Catra and the Jedi. Catra shrugged at her. It wasn't as if the Jedi was likely to kill her while the woman was gone, and avoiding arrest was only postponing the inevitable. She could hardly exact an escape in her current state. She wasn't even sure she could sit up. "Fine," the doctor muttered. "But we do have security cameras here."

"I only wish to speak with her." The doctor spared one look back at her patient before walking out the door. The Jedi followed her to the door and closed it behind her. He pulled a datapad from his robes and began to read. "Catra Nasan, smuggler. Wanted for charges of smuggling, escaping from justice, breaking and entering into a Republic base, assault, murder, and… well… the list goes on. With the combination of all of these charges, the punishment is death." Catra nodded, but didn't respond. There were always appeals, and she would be unlikely to receive anything worse than a life sentence, anyway. He was trying to frighten her. She wasn't sure if it was working. "As you well know, I am a member of the Jedi Order, and could easily take you into custody so that you may receive this sentence." He tucked the datapad back into his robes. "What would you give to receive a full pardon?"

Catra's eyes widened and she sat up, ignoring the lightheaded feeling that came with it and the spots that appeared in her vision. If it had been anyone else, she would have thought that they were joking, but he was a Jedi, and seemed quite serious. "Why would the Republic want to give me a pardon?"

"You know that we're at war. Darth Malak's forces gain more ground each day. The Fleet could use someone of your… expertise. Special consultants are being hired every day."

"I'm a criminal. How will you ensure my loyalty?"

He smiled slightly at her candor. "You may be, but you appear to have no ties to the Sith, and have worked against them on occasion." She recognized this as true, and did not refute it. His smile turned to a smirk. "Besides, your record will not be wiped clean until after you have given five years of service to the Republic forces. All arrest warrants will simply be suspended. We will also do something about your… unofficial… bounties."

"Sounds like a pretty good deal. What's the catch?"

"There is no catch." Catra looked him over. His hands were clasped together, his knuckles white, the tendons standing out, and one thumb moved rhythmically against the other. His eyes remained fixed upon hers, never straying. He was hardly even blinking.

Catra snorted, but didn't respond. He wasn't likely to talk about whatever it was, and this at least gave her a chance to escape eventually. "When do I start?"

The Jedi smiled. "As soon as you are discharged, you will be sent to a training academy, where you will be given an accelerated introductory course. We want you working as soon as possible. Welcome to the fleet, Ensign Nasan."

Catra groaned.


End file.
